


Bloodvines in the Snow

by acatalecticMoth



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: Cataclysm AU, Fluff and Angst, Gen, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, Techno swears!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29573478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acatalecticMoth/pseuds/acatalecticMoth
Summary: In this AU, we coded it so the Eggpire has completely taken over the Dream SMP. The only area untouched by the bloodvines is the Settlement, a small civilization built around Technoblade's arctic home. Many players have already fallen to the egg's thrall, and the Settlement carves out an existence while living in constant fear that someone else they love will be next. While on patrol with Phil, Techno realizes it's only a matter of time until the vines break Dream out of the prison. Unless they want to give the Eggpire a powerful new member, they're going to have to act quickly.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Dawn Patrol

**Author's Note:**

> The Cataclysm Au belongs to @smallm0th on Tumblr! She's fantastic, check her out.

Technoblade was consistently awoken just before dawn with the screams of a thousand tortured souls ringing in his ears. 

_ TECHNOLAAAATE!!  _

He simply grunted and rolled over in bed. 

_ Technolate Technolate Technolate! _ The voices chanted. 

“Techno, mate, you coming?” A much more welcoming voice penetrated the cacophony. Techno just groaned in response. 

_ Phil! Hii Phil! Dadza!!  _ At least the voices weren’t screaming Technolate anymore. Techno swung his legs off the bed and sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Philza pushed a hot mug of coffee into his hand. 

“Sun’s coming up, we best get moving.” Phil didn’t seem much happier to be awake at such an ungodly hour, but he was at least fully dressed. Techno took a sip of the coffee and grimaced. 

“Mornin’.” He mumbled. 

“Sleep well?” 

“Eh.” 

“Yeah… come on, mate.” Phil took Techno’s cape off the back of his desk chair and tossed it on the bed. Techno took another sip of coffee and stood. His attic bedroom was cold, but cozy. Phil descended down the ladder as Techno rummaged around for his gear. Underclothes, padding, armor, cloak, potion belt, tools- the methodical rhythm of suiting up slowly brought Techno to full consciousness. When he met Philza at the door to his house, his eyes were bright. 

He surveyed the Settlement in the early dawn light. A few tents were still set up, but most had long since been replaced by small houses that matched the spruce and stone aesthetic of the tundra. Snow had fallen just last night, and it blanketed the Settlement in drifts of white. It wouldn’t remain quiet for long. When Techno and Phil returned from patrol the paths would be cleared and footprints from people walking to and from their labors would mar the smoothness of the snow. For now, though, it was peaceful. One could almost think it was utopian, if not for the tall blackstone walls that surrounded the settlement as a stark reminder that there were things outside to be feared. 

Phil shouldered his own pack of tools and necessities and the two men headed to the gates. They didn’t speak as the snow crunched under their boots. At the gates, Jack and Niki stood on either side. 

“Ready for mornin’ patrol.” Techno lifted a hand in greeting. 

“Hey Techno, hi Phil!” Niki’s soft voice morphed into a yawn. 

“When do you think you’ll be back this time?” Jack asked, reaching inside his jacket for his key. 

“Probably late afternoon. Could be later if we find somethin’ interestin’.” Techno replied in his typical low drawl. 

“If you’re back early just yell really loud and we’ll let you in.” Niki took out her own key and slid it into the lock. “Ready Jack?” 

“Ready.” 

“3. 2. 1. Turn.” The two turned their keys in unison and the gates ground open with the sound of pistons firing repeatedly. 

“After you, Phil.” Techno swept an arm out with mock drama. Phil just laughed and walked through the gates. 

The space outside the settlement had been cleared of trees long ago. Some of the forest remained 100 meters away from the walls, but it was buried under the bloodvines. Thick red tendrils thicker than Technoblade’s shoulders wrapped around the trunks and extended over the land. They came from all directions and grew over each other until everything was covered. Some sprouts had already begun poking through the fresh snow. A few mobs remained, wandering around, tripping over vines. 

The gates closed behind Techno and Phil with the same loud sounds. They were sealed out. 

_ Blood! Blood! Blood! _ The voices chanted in Technoblade’s ears. 

“I’ll take the left, you take the right?” Phil rolled his shoulders and drew his axe. 

“Let’s go.” Techno leapt forward with his sword drawn and put it through the head of a creeper before it could explode. Phil swung his axe in a wide arc, decapitating two zombies and a skeleton. Occasionally one of them would yell out a joke to the other, who would respond in kind. As the sun rose higher, the mobs started to burn, which made the job of collecting materials much faster. Once they piled the bones, string, gunpowder, and other useful resources by the gates to be gathered later, Techno and Phil swapped their weapons for scythes and began methodically clearing away vines. 

“I guess all that farming came in handy after all.” Techno mused as he split a vine from its base in the ground. The plant started to ooze a thick red sap. Techno was careful not to touch his face in case some of it got on his hands. 

“True,” Philza chopped through another one, “Bit different from potatoes though.” 

“It’s the same thing, these just aren’t edible. Unless…” Techno eyed one of the glowing flowers sprouting from the vines. “No, no definitely not.” he shook his head and sliced another vine. 

_ Omelette!! Eat the vines! No no don’t. Do it! Egg time! EEEE- _ the voices couldn’t seem to agree. 

“Here’s that cave we found last time.” Phil hoisted a woven carpet of smaller vines to reveal a crevice in the ground. 

“Eh we got plenty of ores last time, and I’m not really feeling minin’.” Techno shrugged. 

“Then what’s the plan?” Phil struck a flint and steel to set the vines ablaze. They didn’t burn very well- mostly smoked and bubbled with more red ooze which blackened and popped in the heat. 

Techno looked out over the vines. 

“Techno?” 

“I’ve been thinkin’.”

“That’s a dangerous phrase.” Phil crossed his arms. 

“So uhhhhh do you remember the prison they put Dream in?” 

“I never went, but I know it, yeah.” 

“That thing isn’t going to be able to keep out the bloodvines.” Techno turned back to Phil. “They can break through obsidian.” 

“Shit. You don’t think they’ll turn him?” 

“Who knows? He’s been in there this whole time, dude’s probably gone insane by now.” Techno let out a huff of a laugh despite his lack of humor. 

“Well fuck. What do we do?” 

“See, I’ve got a plan. It’s not the best, and I don’t think the others will like it, but it’s somethin.” Techno shrugged and drove his scythe through another vine. 

“Tell me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short first chapter! Originally posted on Tumblr, but all following stuff is gonna be here. This is my first time posting on ao3 so please be patient while I figure out how to add character tags.


	2. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet the other members of the Settlement, Techno lays out his plan.

When the two returned to the Settlement, Quackity was waiting by the gates. 

“Finally! You’re back!”

“Not now, Quackity, please.” Techno pushed past him. 

“Come on man, I have updates! Tubbo finished the last house and wants to start working-” Quackity held up his clipboard and started flipping through the pages. 

“That’s great, can we talk later? I want to call a meetin’.” 

“Really? Why?” 

“I’ll explain  _ at the meetin’ _ .” Techno layered honey over his words, and Quackity caught the urgency underneath them. 

“I’ll go ring the bell.” He ran off. 

“Is something wrong?” Jack’s hand hovered over his sword. 

“No, no, everything’s fine.” Phil reassured him. “Where’s Eret?” 

Jack gestured to the left side of the Settlement. “With Tubbo and Foolish, they’re planning a watchtower.” 

“I’ll get them. Meet us in the war room with Hannah?” Phil jogged in the direction Jack pointed. 

“Techno, what’s going on?” Niki worried the clasp of her cloak. 

“Everythin’ is juuuuust fine.” 

“You’re a terrible liar.” Niki started walking in the direction of the underground stronghold that served as the Syndicate’s base of operations and the Settlement’s unofficial war room. 

Techno and Jack followed as the sound of a bell started ringing through the air. Niki waved Hannah over from where she was working and the group moved to the stone arch that marked the staircase down to the war room. Techno descended first while the others talked in low voices behind him. 

With the ringing of the bell and noise of people wondering what Techno was calling the meeting for, the Settlement was a far cry from the silent peace of the morning. Techno tried to ignore the voices screeching  _ EEEEEEEE  _ in his head and started muttering to himself under his breath. 

Underground, lava pumps warmed the stone walls and floor. Techno could hear it bubbling behind the walls. It served both an aesthetic and utilitarian purpose; flowing behind some of the barred windows, the lava provided light and, if the war room were to serve as a bunker, a line of defense. 

Techno took his seat at the table and waited for everyone else to follow. The members of the Syndicate trickled in, Tommy’s voice louder than anyone else’s. 

“Technoblaaade! What the HELL is going ON?” 

“Sit down, Tommy, and I’ll tell you.” Techno waved a cloven hand towards one of the other chairs around the table. Once everyone was seated, Techno took a deep breath and addressed the Syndicate. 

“As I am sure you recall,” he began, “a certain someone was locked up a couple months ago, before everything went to shit.” 

“You called this meeting to talk about Dream?” Tommy’s face twisted in confusion. “He’s been out of the game for months, he’s in prison!” 

“Exactly. There’s been plenty of time for the bloodvines to start eating through the obsidian layers and start brainwashing him. With whatever mental state he’s in after months of solitary, I doubt he’ll last very long.” Techno tinged the last sentence with nonchalance, but everyone around the table exchanged nervous looks. Even Tommy leaned back in his chair, fingers working the old compass that hung around his neck out of habit. 

After a heavy silence, Eret was the first to speak. “So what’s the plan? I assume you have one or you wouldn’t have called us here.” 

Techno’s plan rolled off his tongue despite the voices spamming something about rainbows. “It’s too dangerous to stage a rescue mission. More people means more likely to be spotted, means more casualties. So, I’m going to sneak behind enemy lines and give him a way to find us.” 

Quackity slammed his hands on the table. “You’re going to tell them where we  _ are _ ? Are you  _ insane _ ?” 

“Not the Settlement. Just a portal.” Phil chimed in. “We don’t even have to leave it active.” 

“And then what? He wanders through a portal and we have a dangerous, child murdering lunatic terrorist in the Settlement.” Quackity spit. 

“Now hold on! I killed  _ him _ , twice!” Tommy shouted. 

“Yeah! I didn’t even die once!” Tubbo chimed in. 

“You know what I mean!” Quackity snapped. “We can’t trust someone like that.” 

“Then what do you propose?” Niki spoke up. 

Quackity was quiet. “We should have killed him when we had the chance.” 

“Hey.” Wilbur protested. 

“Oh come on, you don’t mean that.” Foolish scoffed. 

“He’s too dangerous to be left alive.” Quackity crossed his arms and shrugged. 

“He’s not wrong…” Hannah muttered. 

“We can’t just kill him.” Techno interrupted. 

Quackity’s eyes locked on his across the table. “Why not?” 

“I owe him a favor.” Techno didn’t blink. He simply allowed his words to sink under Quackity’s skin. 

“That was in the past. We have to do what’s best for our survival.” Quackity’s voice dropped low and serious. 

“You’re right, Quackity. And I think he would make a fine member of the Syndicate. He’s a good fighter, good survivalist, excellent strategist--” 

“He tried to kill Tubbo, gaslit Tommy for two months, and turned us against each other for kicks. He’s a piece of shit and we don’t need him.” Quackity insisted while Techno counted off reasons on his fingers. 

“We can make sure he doesn’t go anywhere near the kids.” Wilbur raised a finger. 

“I resent that.” Tommy muttered. 

“We can keep him under guard,” Jack shrugged, “Techno’s right, he’s more valuable alive than dead.” 

“Plus, you know, he ran the server at one point. Maybe he can work some Admin magic to snap the Egg out of existence.” Techno quipped. Nobody laughed. 

The air around the table was heavy. Lava popped behind the bars. Its heat soothed Techno slightly, but not by much. Judging from the body language of the people in the room, most were still on the fence. But one person hanging back by the door still hadn’t spoken. 

“Ranboo, what do you think?” Techno threw the question out to the tall black and white hybrid. 

All eyes turned to him and Ranboo visibly stiffened. “I… uh… I don’t think we should kill him.” 

“That’s great, very helpful, okay-” Quackity clapped his hands together. “Let’s put it to a vote. All in favor of Techno’s plan, raise your hand.” Foolish, Eret, Wilbur, Niki, Jack, Phil, and Techno raised their hands. Ranboo half raised his. Tommy and Tubbo were busy muttering to each other, but it didn’t matter. Quackity was outvoted. 

“If you want to bring that psychopath into the settlement, fine. But you’re putting everyone here at risk. And if shit goes south, I’ll be the first to say I told you so.” Quackity stood and walked out of the war room. 

“A’ight. Meeting adjourned.” Jack rapped his knuckles on the wood section of the round table and followed Quackity outside, back to his post at the gate most likely. The others followed suit, some lingering a bit longer to talk amongst themselves. Phil rose and put a hand on Techno’s shoulder. 

Techno accepted the touch. “He’s not wrong.” He murmured. 

“Cold feet?” Phil smiled gently. 

“Heh, nah… I should prep some invis.” Techno stood, stretched, and walked out of the war room. 

Outside, the cold air fogged around his nostrils. He sucked in a full, crisp lungful. Was he doing the right thing? He sure hoped so. 


	3. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno and Phil have a moment. Dream has several.  
> CONTENT WARNING: Heavily implied self harm, questioning if one's senses can be trusted, general prison!Dream angst.

Phil joined Techno in his house. Phil knocked out of courtesy but let himself in, he spent about as much time here as Techno did. He found the piglin hybrid muttering to himself, hunched over a mess of brewing stands. 

“Hey mate, how’s it goin’?” Phil shut the door behind him. 

“Oh, you know, Turtle Master potions, Strength potions, just in case.” Techno didn’t even look up. 

“You always did like to over prepare.” Phil took some invis pots out of one brewing stand and started a new batch. “So when are we leaving?” 

“Ah. About that.” Techno took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. 

“Techno.” 

“You know what I’m about to say, Phil.” 

“You’re not going alone.” 

“I think I am, though.” 

“It’s too dangerous.” 

“Ah, but that’s what all these potions are for.” Techno swirled the pink liquid in one of the bottles in front of his eyes before placing it in his bag. “Plus, we have totems stockpiled from before. If they catch me, they’ll have to kill me five times over.” 

“And if something else happens?” Phil leaned against the wall and looked at his friend, who still hadn’t looked up at him. 

“It’s a stealth mission, nothing is gonna happen.” 

“Techno… you can trust me.” An edge of hurt crept into Phil’s voice. 

Techno finally looked up. Phil could see the exhaustion in his friend’s eyes. 

“I can’t risk it. We lost Sam… Fundy… Puffy…” Techno looked down. Phil was quiet. Techno crossed the room and leaned into his shoulder. “Not you.” 

“Besides, the Settlement wouldn’t last a week without you.” Techno’s voice was muffled by the fur of Phil’s cloak. Phil chuckled. 

“Give them some credit.” He wrapped his wings around Techno’s shoulders, accepting the implicit apology. “Are you going in the morning?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I’ll see you off. Get some rest, okay?” 

“You got it, man.” Techno pulled away. “Right after I finish these.” 

“I’ll give you a hand. What else do you need?” Phil smiled and started rummaging through chests for ingredients. 

The snow fell heavily again that night outside the window. Polar bears settled into burrows and occasionally a dog howled towards the waning moon. Far away, across an ocean and swaths of land covered in red, Dream sat in his cell. 

The obsidian floors and walls weren’t smooth. They weren’t meant to be beautiful, or comfortable. They were uneven, lumpy, and radiated heat. Dream was used to the way it scraped his knuckles when he tried to dig at it, or jabbed into his back when he laid down. His nails were broken from where he’d picked at miniscule cracks that never got bigger. 

The heat permeated every inch of the cell. Sweat clung to Dream’s skin, clothes, and hair. Every surface stuck to him. He’d tried sitting in the water pool to get clean but the water was never cool. Sometimes he imagined he could feel it get ever so slightly warmer, and the old saying about boiling a frog would rise to his mind. It wasn’t real, but after so long, he was starting to question himself. 

It was never dark, but the black walls gave the illusion of an endless night. Dream had thrown his last clock into the lava weeks ago… months? He honestly didn’t know. Sam never came. Dream knew he wasn’t sleeping right. He didn’t sleep so much as his body shut down for some amount of time before he awoke on the floor and a new meal of potatoes had dispensed from the ceiling. 

When the small tendril poked through one of the cracks stained rusty brown by dried blood, Dream thought he was hallucinating at last. Bright red and delicate, it reached for the old blood. Dream stared, barely breathing. His eyes closed. When he opened them again, he was laying slumped against the wall. His blurry vision cleared. The vine was still there. If anything it was _bigger_. Was it… budding? No, there was no way. Dream reached up and touched it. 

_Fuck_. It had thorns. He sucked the finger. This was a new pain at least. Different from scraping burning bludgeoning drowning choking on a poisoned potato. The pain subsided quickly, it was more shock than anything. Dream kept his eyes on the bead of blood on the thorn as it sunk into the stem of the vine. Before his eyes, the bud opened, and glowing yellow petals slowly unfurled. 

He felt paralyzed. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. If a plant could get in, could he get out? No way. This was a trick. Either from Sam or his mind. He wouldn’t fall for this. 

Dream grabbed the flower and ripped the vine out of the wall. A wet _snap_ echoed off the walls. Dream threw the flower, stem and all, into the lava, where it sizzled and popped. A bit of red sap leaked from the crack. 

Dream sucked air into his lungs. His rage subsided quickly, and he just felt empty again. 

[Dream tried to swim in lava.]

[Dream tried to swim in lava.]

[Dream tried to swim in lava.] 

The next time the vines appeared, they grew back thicker and more numerous. Dream gave up trying to get rid of them. If Sam wanted to fill his cell with blood drinking plants, fine. It wasn’t the death Dream had imagined for himself, but hey, maybe this time it would finally stick. 

The vines seemed to sense his apathy. They whispered, and that scared Dream more than anything. It had been so long since he’d heard someone speak, those hissing whispers echoing in his skull were overwhelming. They gave him a headache on top of nightmares. He couldn’t make out the words, but he caught the gist. _Out. Out. Out_. It was going to get him out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters one night pog???


End file.
